Riza Hawkeye
Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye is an officer in the State Military as well as the personal adjutant and bodyguard of Colonel Roy Mustang. A sharpshooter and firearms specialist, Lt. Hawkeye is an invaluable asset to the Colonel both in office and on the battlefield and serves as his closest and most supportive subordinate. Background Physical Appearance Riza Hawkeye is a woman in her mid-to-late twenties with a moderately muscular and curvaceous build, blonde hair that reaches the middle of her back, light skin and brown eyes. The Fullmetal Alchemist author has stated that Riza has broad shoulders from her military training and flared hips appropriate for her age. While she has been known to wear her hair down, on the job Riza wears it fastened up in the back with a clip barrette in a style that resembles a bird tail. Her bangs fall in a hawk's wing pattern from right to left, occasionally partially obscuring her left eye. Though she had worn her hair short in her youth and during her tenure in Ishval, she began letting it grow out in 1910 after becoming acquainted with Winry Rockbell. Each of her ears is pierced with a silver stud and, while in disguise, Riza has been known to don faux eyeglasses. Riza frequently wears a black, short-sleeved turtleneck under her standard military uniform and often while in casual dress as well, like a white jacket with long sleeves that are folded up to her mid portions of her forearms. Though Riza has noted that skirts restrict movement and therefore are not welcome in a military office, while in civilian clothes, Riza is mostly seen in long skirts and boots. Because of being entrusted of carrying the secrets of Flame Alchemy, she has a large and ornate tattoo that covers most her back with large parts of it completely obscured by burn scars by Mustang to cover the secrets. She always wears clothes fitted to hide the tattoo. Personality Riza is a quiet, collected woman, with a serious but courteous demeanor. Hawkeye is viewed by her peers as the model of a perfect soldier; strictly disciplined and extremely rational, she rarely relaxes when on the job and is usually tasked with keeping her colleagues on track. Though from the outside she might seem strict, rigid, and even a little mean, Hawkeye is not as cold and distant as she may appear. Those close to her know that there is more to her than her no-nonsense attitude; beneath her professional aura is a kind and compassionate soul who understands the difficulty of carrying a heavy burden. Riza's softer side tends to make itself known through her interactions with younger characters, such as the Elric brothers and Winry Rockbell, and it isn't unusual to see her behaving sweetly toward her pet Shiba Inu, Black Hayate, while in private. Very disciplined, Riza takes her work seriously and is almost never seen “dropping formalities,” even with those who are most intimate to her. She’s not prone to public displays of affection, preferring to show her feelings through more subtle ways. Hawkeye seems the personification of "tough love," demanding excellence from those she respects or considers important. Her interactions with Hayate can be seen as a metaphor for all of her significant personal relationships—a stern hand and demanding nature tempered with genuine and deep affection. It can be inferred that Riza also changed across the years; in her teens, she appeared to have been rather timid and idealistic about the world at large. Growing up at her father's house, she probably experienced a sheltered sort of childhood. After joining the military, her experiences in Ishval destroyed her youthful idealism and transformed her into the nearly stoic Lieutenant Hawkeye. Hawkeye emerges from the war with a tremendous will, strong enough to shoulder the heavy guilt she willingly bears, and uses this motivation to stand along side and support Mustang in the hopes that future generations will remain free of the horrors of something like Ishval. Reticent, she doesn't speak unnecessarily or express her feelings often through words, but reveals most of her thoughts through nonverbal communication, with trademark sharp looks and rare, subtle smiles. Her character shows a mix between a tortured woman looking for redemption she feels is unreachable, and a resigned acceptance of past mistakes and their consequences. Hawkeye learns from Ishval to accept responsibilities for her actions herself, rather than placing blame or burden on another. She decides she must sacrifice her own happiness and comfort and continue to dirty her hands with blood as a soldier in order to bring peace to the people. Despite the emotional difficulties in facing her mistakes, she learns to school herself and her emotions as personal struggles, brushing off the concern of others, always bearing grief or physical pain with a stiff upper lip. When meeting Winry Rockbell, Riza indicated that she also doesn't like the military, because she is sometimes forced to kill. However, when Alphonse Elric refers to her weapons as "a tool for destruction" later in the story, she corrects him, telling him it is a "tool for protection." Riza seems to hold the belief that a gun is simply an object, by itself unable to cause pain or suffering without a person pulling the trigger. It is not her weapons that she dislikes, but the death that she causes by using them. After Ishval, Riza tells Roy Mustang that "a gun is good. It doesn't leave the feeling of a person dying in your hands." When he counters that this mindset is self-deception, she agrees, indicating that she is willing to deceive herself and continue to do her duty as a soldier if it means assuring the safety of others. She even seems to take weapons a lot more seriously and is never seen taking out her gun when she doesn't mean to shoot it. Synopsis Abilities Master Marksman Specialist: Aside from her high-level administrative and secretarial skills (keeping subordinates in line, organizing and filling out paperwork as well as preparing tea and coffee expertly), Lieutenant Hawkeye is a master sharpshooter and firearms specialist. Whether armed with a bolt-action rifle, sniper rifle, a shotgun, pistol or even two handguns at once, she is well known for never missing her mark, and even made a name for herself as the infamous "Hawk's Eye" of the Ishval Civil War. A true professional, Hawkeye is able to disassemble, properly clean and reassemble a standard issue firearm in record time and rarely goes into battle with fewer than two loaded firearms on her person. Keen Senses: Hawkeye is able to instinctively sense that homunculi are a greater threat than a typical human. Such sensitivity is likely due to her sharp instincts from her experiences in combat. Expert Strategist and Tactician: Hawkeye is quite skilled in combat tactics and covert operations, able to decide the mechanisms of her opponents' abilities and find a way to counter-attack before her foe can land a hit. Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Though she is an exceptional marksman, she does show great melee combat skills when she's unarmed. Peek Physical Conditioning: Hawkeye has been trained physically to keep her active and steady her conditioning. *'Enhanced Strength': *'Enhanced Speed & Reflexes': *'Enhanced Durability': High Chi Power: Equipment Various Handguns: Reishi-Enhanced Handguns: Relationships Family * Friends/Allies * Enemies * Background in Other Media Trivia * Quotes * Battles & Events Navigation Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Human Category:Amestrian Category:State Military Category:Hawkeye Family Category:Mustang Unit Category:Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Characters Category:Major Characters Category:Unified Army Category:Playable Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Team Allies